Helicopters Prove Vital in Air-to-Air Combat Against Drones.
On Aug. 25, 2024 some videos showing Ukrainian soldiers shooting down Russian drones from a Mi-8 transport helicopter were shared on X (formerly Twitter).
In the first video coming from Ukraine, a crewman can be seen manning the door-mounted machine gun while the helicopter flies alongside a Shahed Russian drone, before letting out a short burst that impacts the drone sending pieces of it flying away. However the smoking kamikaze drone keeps flying and the crewman has to unleash another two short burst to finally send it crashing to the ground.
Downing the Shahed.
Incredible footage from @war_monitor_ua pic.twitter.com/hmQFiXetPc
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024
In another video, this time filmed from the cockpit of a Mi-8, the helicopter is seen pursuing an enemy drone, and the crewman operating the frontal machine guns unleashes some burst of fire aimed at the not-clearly visible target.
After some firing, a smoke trail can be briefly seen before a fireball suddenly appears in front of the helicopter, signalling the explosion of the drone being hit by bullets.
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 25, 2024
Another video, dated Aug. 26, 2024, shows a Mi-24 attack helicopter trying to hit a Shahed drone with its onboard cannon, but the video, shot from the ground, cuts only after a few short bursts, with the helicopter still chasing the drone.
Ukrainian Mi-24 tries to shoot down Russian Shaheed suicide drone in Kyiv Oblast, 26th of Aug 2024
byu/BlackMarine inCombatFootage
More or less in the same hours, the Israeli Air Force published on X some footage of the strike operation in Lebanon against Hezbollah’s rocket launchers and drones, including a video of an Apache helicopter shooting down what appears as an Iranian V-tailed Samad UAV using the onboard 30mm cannon.
בהמשך לתקיפות בלבנון ביממה האחרונה, מצורף תיעוד מתדלוק מטוסי אדיר מעל שמי לבנון ותיעוד מיירוט כטב״ם על-ידי מסוק קרב: pic.twitter.com/YUul4bCMVs
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— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 25, 2024
Helicopters vs drones
The Mil Mi-8 is a Soviet-era medium twin-turbine helicopter, usually used for transport or in some instances to lob rockets at enemy forces, but using it as an air-to-air platform against drones is a innovation brought by the emergence of slow-moving threats in the form of kamikaze drones.
Ukraine has also been using Yak-52 trainer aircraft to shoot down enemy drones using tactics reminiscent of the WWI or WWII air-to-air dogfights, and we recently reported about Russia modernizing its Yak-52 trainers and converting them to shoot at Ukrainian drones. In fact, the use of faster-moving jets against slow-moving drones can pose many issues, from the drones moving too slowly to safely intercept before stalling, to the threat of the exploding drones for the intercepting plane, as shown by Ukrainian pilot Vadym Voroshylov , callsign “Karaya”, having to eject from his stricken Mig-29 fighter jet after impacting debris of the targeted drone.
Earlier this year, we have also reported in details about the extensive use by the Russian Navy of helicopters to intercept the Ukrainian USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicles) around Crimea. Ukrainian “drone boats” or “drone vessels,” outfitted with sophisticated technologies, allowing them to conduct a range of missions, such as reconnaissance, surveillance, and notably, offensive strikes against Russian Navy ships, have been a formidable threat to Russian naval forces in the Black Sea. And, like their flying counterparts, USVs (Unmanned Surface Vehicles) are difficult to detect and intercept.
Israel has also used its gunship helicopters to intercept kamikaze drones recently.
Intercepting a slow mover
Interestingly, similar difficulties were faced by American pilots over 70 years ago in Korea, when the task of shooting down slow Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes proved quite difficult, even prompting the use of AD-4 Skyraiders as air-to-air aircraft, and seeing an F-94 jet fighter crashing after slowing below its stall speed.
Later during the Vietnam war, an unarmed American UH-1 Huey transport helicopter flown by Capt. Ted Moore also intercepted a fleeing North Vietnamese An-2 biplane, converted to an improvised bomber, and crewman Glenn Woods shot it down using an AK-47.
More recently, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the somewhat frequent enforcement of NFZs (No Fly Zones) to defend sensitive targets and events from renegade and asymmetric threats, combat helicopters equipped with handheld/side mounted machine guns have often been included in multi-layer air defense packages in the SMI (Slow Mover Intercept) role, with the task to intercept small private planes, helicopters, lightweight aircraft and, of course, drones.
Using helicopters to intercept slow-moving drones makes sense and it can be more effective and cost-efficient than deploying fighter jets with expensive air-to-air missiles. For several reasons:
- Helicopters are far cheaper to operate than fighter jets. The operational costs of fuel, maintenance, and crew support for helicopters are significantly lower than for high-performance fighter jets. Additionally, helicopters often use less expensive ammunition, such as machine guns or cannons, rather than costly air-to-air missiles, making each interception far more economical.
- Helicopters offer a significant operational flexibility: unlike fighter jets, they don’t need a runway, as they can operate from improvised airfields and forward operating bases.
- Helicopters can fly at lower speeds and altitudes, making them better suited for engaging slow-moving drones. High performance interceptors, designed for high-speed targets, may struggle to operate at the slow speeds necessary for identifying and engaging drones.
- Helicopters are designed to operate at low altitude: they are optimized for slow speed, low altitude, long endurance missions and are more efficient in combat air patrols against drones in case of point defense. On the other end, fast moving fighter jets can quickly cover the distance required to intercept a drone whereas a helicopter may struggle to close on its target over longer distances.
One last comment
As a side note, another video widely circulated online is said to show the shooting down of a Russian cruise missile using only a .50 cal M2 heavy machine gun.
The Transcarpathian 650th separate anti-aircraft machine gun battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, shoot down a cruise missile with a heavy machinegun.
byu/Smart-Bonus-6589 inCombatFootage
However, considering the speed of the target and the moment the gunner starts firing, it seems quite unreasonable to affirm the missile was downed by the the machine gun. Provided the clip is not doctored, the cruise missile was most probably shot down by something else, possibly a SAM (Surface to Air Missile).
